Chuck Larsen

Stuart Townend wrote a modern hymn that has become one of my favorites. It’s entitled “In Christ Alone.” Here is the first verse:

In Christ alone my hope is found,
He is my light, my strength, my song
This Cornerstone, this solid Ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.

What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand.

This simple hymn expresses the difference between religion and the peace that Christ offers. With religion we have condemnation. With religion we’re always exhorted to try harder, do better, commit more, give more and serve more. Jesus is the Prince of Peace that puts us at rest. He calls out saying “Come to me all of you who are weary and worn out on religion and I will give you rest.” In Christ all our striving cease and we have peace with God. Whatever the circumstances we may find ourselves in, Jesus is enough. His grace is sufficient. How did Christianity become all about what I do for God instead of what God did for me? Religious people all around us try to drag us from the security we find in Christ to the unstable, fickle and fallible works of our hands and flesh. They only produce worry, fear and doubt!

The writer of Hebrews is addressing Christians who are being beguiled by religious people into focusing their attention on their own works and efforts rather than focusing on Christ alone. But he will have none of it and in Hebrews 10:23, he exhorts us all, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.” Many of the sermons we hear about David, exhort us to be like him. We need to stand up to our giants. But in keeping with how the writer of Hebrews interprets the Old Testament, David was the anointed one who fought the battle for his people and delivered them from their enemy. The story of David is a prelude to the true anointed one who fought our battles for us and delivered us from our enemies. Girwood writes, “His victory is also ours. No threat of danger can cost us more or take away what we hope for—and already possess—in Christ Jesus.”^[1] In Christ alone my hope is found! Jesus is my all in all!

^[1] James Girdwood and Peter Verkruyse, Hebrews, The College Press NIV Commentary (Joplin, MO: College Press, 1997), Heb 10:23.

Jesus did not come into the world to die on the cross for us in order that we might have a second chance at being good. A second chance, a third chance, etc., is what the sacrificial system under the Old Covenant gave the worshippers. Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead to pay the full penalty for our sins once and for all and to purchase a place for us in heaven that he offers to all who believe based on faith alone. If it’s only a second chance, we all fail and will never have the necessary confidence to enter into God’s presence, ever! But Hebrews 10:19-22 says, “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”

The writer refers to his readers as “brothers.” He is addressing those who have come to faith in Jesus but who seemed to have lost their confidence in the full sufficiency of Jesus and his priestly work on our behalf with God. The religious leaders of their day, the Judaizers, the legalists, have so infiltrated their group that some began to question the place of the law in their relationship with God. They began to consider it like the sacrifices of the Old Covenant which only offer us a second chance to be good. Thus all confidence, all assurance of our rightful standing with God is gone! We again wrestle with our failure as the basis for God’s rejection of us. It seems to be the default position in every generation. We can’t let go of our religion and put our full confidence in the finished work of Jesus. We seem to want to contribute something to our own salvation! Our “flesh”, our “pride” wants to make a contribution, but God says “There is nothing you can add and there is nothing you can take away” from the finished work of Jesus.

Through Christ we can come into the presence of God with a clear conscience with the “full assurance” of our acceptance.  Hagner writes, “And we are reminded that our acceptability, as we know from the preceding chapters, depends fully upon the priestly work of Christ. We have been cleansed internally (having our hearts sprinkled; cf. Ezek. 36:25, in the context of reference to the new covenant), so that we no longer have the guilty conscience (cf. 9:9, 14) from which the old, sacrificial ritual could not free us.”^[1] Thankfully our acceptance by God is based solely on the person and work of His Son, Jesus. It’s Jesus’ blood that cleanses us from all sin. The torn veil separating man from God was split in two at Christ’s death. Stedman says, “That indicated that the way into the presence of God was now open to all who believe in Jesus. We can, therefore, enter with boldness and with no uncertainty as to our acceptance, since everything rests on the blood of Jesus.”^[2] It’s all about Jesus!

^[1] Donald A. Hagner, Hebrews, Understanding the Bible Commentary Series (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2011), 165.

^[2] Ray C. Stedman, Hebrews, The IVP New Testament Commentary Series (Westmont, IL: IVP Academic, 1992), Heb 10:19.

In Hebrews 10:15-18 the author refers again to the New Covenant promised by Jeremiah. Under that arrangement God would transform his people from the inside rather than force behavior by means of rewards and punishments through laws written on stone tablets.  In reciting this Old Testament passage, the author gives credit to the Holy Spirit as an additional witness to the Hebrews of Jesus’ legitimacy as seen in the prophetic passages of the Old Testament. Hebrews 10:15-18 says, “And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying, ‘this is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds.’ Then he adds, ‘I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.’ Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.”

The Old Testament sacrificial system did not clear our consciences nor wipe our slate clean once and for all. It was a futile practice of a repetitive ritual that availed the participant nothing more than a temporary reprieve that had to be repeated daily, monthly and annually. But according to the Holy Spirit, the New Covenant, promised within the pages of the Old Covenant, would be one that removed our sins totally, even from God’s memory! What an exciting message for those living under the dirge of the law. Guzik says, “The forgiveness is so complete that God can say that He doesn’t even remember our sins in light of the new covenant! The Christian must endeavor to do with their sin exactly what God has done: forget about it. As well, this reminds us that the believer is in no way on probation. Before God, past sin has no bearing on God’s present dealing.”^[1]

Many of us still struggle with the idea of being on probation with God. In Christ he has given us a second chance but is keeping his eye on us closely to make sure we don’t mess up again. He’s even referred to occasionally as “The God of the Second Chance.” Forget it! That’s what the old system regarding the blood of bulls and goats provided. That’s what my weekly confessions gave me, but that’s not what God gives me in Christ. Under the old system you can have as many chances as you want and you fail every one of them. Jesus brings the once and for all sacrifice to God on our behalf and God chooses to “remember our sins no more.” Sam Storms writes, “You and I certainly remember our sins and evil deeds, all too often! We can’t shake free from them. They nag at our hearts and haunt us and torment us and oppress our souls. There is a constant piercing of the conscience. And the only way to break free from that remembrance is to remind ourselves that God does not remember!” (See https://www.samstorms.com/enjoying-god-blog/post/when-god-chooses-not-to-remember-2) God does not remember our sins and lawless deeds because He chooses not to remember and hold them against us, not because He’s forgetful.

^[1] David Guzik, Hebrews, David Guzik’s Commentaries on the Bible (Santa Barbara, CA: David Guzik, 2013), Heb 10:11–18.

In Hebrews 10:11 we see the futility of the priestly service under the old ways. It’s the same monotonous thing over and over, day after day, to no avail. It reads, “And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.” It reminds me of the Father McKenzie that the Beetles made famous in their song “Eleanor Rigby.” The verse goes, “Father McKenzie writing the words of a sermon that no one will hear. No one comes near. Look at him working darning his socks in the night when there’s nobody there. What does he care?” It’s just a refrain of weary activity that avails nothing for nobody.

I remember the repetition of auricular confession as an altar boy back in the summer of 1960. I had to go to confession on Saturday in order to serve at Mass on Sunday. I’d come out of the confessional knowing that I’d sin again before the 7am mass in the morning. Even a 13 year old felt the oppression of the sin & confess, sin & confess cycle, over and over and the feeling that I was pouring the wine into the Priest’s cup the next morning with fresh sins on my heart. It was a religious ritual that had no impact on my sin life at all. Even though I was sincere during my confession, it didn’t take long to find sin waiting for me even on my way home on Saturday afternoon. My conscience was never clear for very long and the repetition resolved nothing. This is what the author of Hebrews is trying to drive home to his readers. But he then speaks of the better sacrifice that was offered once and for all.

Hebrews 10:12-14 says, “But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.” Verse 11 focused on the futility of the repetition of a meaningless practice while verse 14 speaks of a single action accomplished by a single person that suffices to remove the sins from everyone in the world who would believe. The translation “being sanctified” or “being made holy” has to do with a process which believers go through in becoming Christ-like. But the Bible Knowledge Commentary correctly argues, “Thus by a single—in contrast with the many sacrifices offered by the priests day after day and again and again … He has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. The translation ‘are being made holy’ sounds like a continuing process. But this ignores the force of the expression ‘made holy’ in verse 10. A better rendering is them who are sanctified. The ‘sanctified’ have a status in God’s presence that is ‘perfect’ (cf. 11:40; 12:23) in the sense that they approach Him with the full acceptance gained through the death of Christ.”^[1]

^[1] Zane C. Hodges, “Hebrews,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 804.

In Theological discussions we hear about how we are “justified” by God’s grace through faith in Christ. That means our sins have been removed and we are seen as Christ is himself, blameless and pure. Then we talk about “sanctification” and explain it as the process by which God works to make us “holy” or better people by actually conforming us to the image of Christ in reality. But the writer of Hebrews seems to see our justification and our sanctification accomplished for us by Christ once and for all time. Hebrews 10:8-10 says, “When he said above, ‘You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings’ (these are offered according to the law), then he added, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will.’ He does away with the first in order to establish the second. And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”

We have been “sanctified” once and for all! The literal rendering is to be “made holy.” We often think that sanctification is a process that takes time and effort on the part of a believer. But this verse seems to say that like justification, sanctification is a once and for all action accomplished apart from our works and is based on the finished work of Jesus. Steadman writes, “The Greek expression for made holy indicates action with a lasting effect. We have been made holy by the death of Jesus, and we remain holy even though we struggle with daily weakness and sin. This should be borne in mind when we come to the statement in 12:14, ‘without holiness no one will see the Lord.’ It is a holiness obtained by faith, not by self-righteous effort, and it is not lost by momentary failure. ‘There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus!’” (Rom 8:1).^[1]

Quoting again from the Old Testament, Jesus expressed his purpose for coming into the world. It was to “do God’s will.” None of us could ever accomplish that! We’re all conceived in iniquity and born in sin. Only the anointed one could have done that. We are not David, the anointed one of Israel who fought the battle against the giant and won the victory on behalf of all the people. David was the chosen one to accomplish that feat. His story is a shadow of the real “anointed one,” the “messiah” who took up our cause and fought the battle for us. Only Jesus satisfied God’s demand under the law. Only in Jesus can we ever find any holiness. Man has failed in his quest to “do the will of God.” As Hagner says, “For it is Jesus who has come to do the will of God, and in agreement with the teaching of the Scriptures: ‘it is written about me in the scroll.’ All of the OT in one way or another points to or prepares for the fulfillment of God’s saving purposes accomplished through Christ.”^[2]

^[1] Ray C. Stedman, Hebrews, The IVP New Testament Commentary Series (Westmont, IL: IVP Academic, 1992), Heb 10:1.

^[2] Donald A. Hagner, Hebrews, Understanding the Bible Commentary Series (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2011), 156.

In Chapter 10, the writer of Hebrews repeats some of his previous thoughts concerning the superiority of Jesus’ sacrifice to those offered under the old religious system. Verses 1-4 say, “For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.” The primary point seems to be the repetitive nature of the sacrifices under the law versus the once and for all sacrifice of Jesus. Pfeiffer writes, “The worshiper who brought his sacrifice to the Tabernacle or the Temple did not leave with the thought that his problems were solved. He had performed the prescribed rite, but he carried with him a continuing consciousness of sin. He knew it would be necessary to return again and again. The guilt of sin lay heavy on the sinner.”^[1]

The Day of Atonement, Yom Kipper, was a day that came every year over and over. It served not to remove guilt, shame and sin, but to temporarily cover them up. Everyone knew they would have to come back next year. Long writes, “…the whole Day of Atonement ritual, repeated annually, is like a sledgehammer to the human spirit, pounding away year after year after year with its constant battering away on the theme of sin. In other words, it does not work to heal; it works only to drub it into us that we are sinful, sinful, sinful—guilty, and unacceptable to God.”^[2] Unfortunately many Christians today have their own day of atonement every Sunday when they go to church. Here’s how Long finishes his comments: “Often churches are far more effective in preaching sin than they are in proclaiming grace. Sunday after Sunday, month after month, year after year, sermon after sermon beats out the message of sin. Every Sunday is the “Day of Atonement,” but sadly an atonement we must accomplish for ourselves. The sacrifices placed on the altar are those of the unfortunate congregation who have come to be told one more time that they do not measure up and, because this is the constant theme, become convinced they will never measure up.”^[3]

What a shame that many pulpits focus on our failure to measure up rather than on the fact the Jesus has measured up for us. Christianity becomes just another religion of trying harder, doing more and repeatedly repenting with our sacrificial offerings every week. Thomas Long sees the book of Hebrews as a sermon and often refers to the writer as “The Preacher.” He believes the main point of the sermon is in Christ you are forgiven once and for all. He writes, “The Preacher is driving home the central claim of the sermon, and one could think of this section as a repeated assurance of pardon: ‘In Jesus Christ you are forgiven; in Jesus Christ you are forgiven; in Jesus Christ, I tell you, you are forgiven.’”^[4]

^[1] Charles F. Pfeiffer, The Epistle to the Hebrews, Everyman’s Bible Commentary (Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1962), 77.

^[2] Thomas G. Long, Hebrews, Interpretation, a Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching (Louisville, KY: John Knox Press, 1997), 101.

^[3] Thomas G. Long, Hebrews, Interpretation, a Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching (Louisville, KY: John Knox Press, 1997), 102.

^[4] Thomas G. Long, Hebrews, Interpretation, a Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching (Louisville, KY: John Knox Press, 1997), 101.